Recording apparatus

Abstract

To prevent a user from forgetting to close an injection port with a simple configuration.SOLUTION: An ink tank that includes a recording head that ejects ink, a conveyance unit that conveys a recording medium in a first direction toward the recording head, an ink storage chamber that stores ink to be supplied to the recording head, and an injection port through which the ink is injected into the ink storage chamber, the ink tank being disposed downstream of the conveyance unit in the first direction, a tank cap that closes the injection port, a lever that holds the tank cap and is rotatable, and a rotation shaft that is disposed upstream of the conveyance unit in the first direction; And a cover rotatable to an open position for exposing the lever and a closed position for covering the lever, wherein a sliding surface having a curved surface capable of contacting the lever while the cover is rotating toward the closed position is provided on a surface of the cover facing the lever.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that records an image by ejecting ink. [Background technology]

[0002] Inkjet recording devices have been known that include an ink tank that can store ink to be supplied to a recording head that ejects ink. The ink tank has an inlet through which a user can inject ink, and the user can inject ink by removing a cap that closes the inlet.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a printer equipped with a tank cover that can open and close an inlet, and an outer cover that is pivotally supported on a housing and can open a recording medium transport path. If a user attempts to close the outer cover while forgetting to close the tank cover, the outer cover interferes with the tank cover, preventing the printer from closing. This prevents the outer cover from being closed while the tank cover is open. The patent also discloses a configuration in which, if a user attempts to close the tank cover while forgetting to close the cap, the cap moves to a closing position along with the action of closing the tank cover. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-69705 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, with the configuration of Patent Document 1, once the user has finished filling the ink, they must close the cap, tank cover, and outer cover, which can make the operation complicated.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has an object to provide a recording device that has a simple configuration and can prevent the injection port from being left unclosed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problem, the recording device of the present invention comprises a recording head that ejects ink, a transport means that transports a recording medium in a first direction toward the recording head, an ink storage chamber that stores ink to be supplied to the recording head, and an injection port for injecting ink into the ink storage chamber, the recording device comprising: an ink tank that is arranged downstream of the transport means in the first direction; a tank cap that closes the injection port; a lever that holds the tank cap and is rotatable; and a cover that is rotatable about a rotation axis that is arranged upstream of the transport means in the first direction to an open position that exposes the lever and a closed position that covers the lever, and is characterized in that the surface of the cover facing the lever is provided with a sliding surface having a curved surface that can abut against the lever as the cover rotates toward the closed position. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a recording device that has a simple configuration and that can prevent the injection port from being left unclosed. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing the internal configuration of an inkjet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an outline of the ink tank according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the vicinity of the filler port of the ink tank according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] 4A to 4C are diagrams illustrating a holding configuration of a cap lever by a holding portion according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the appearance of an inkjet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment. [Figure 6] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the scanner unit is closed and the tank cap according to the first embodiment does not close the filler port. FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a user is in the middle of closing the scanner unit according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] 1 is an external perspective view showing a state in which the filler port for black ink according to the first embodiment is not closed by a tank cap. FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a user is in the middle of closing the scanner unit according to the first embodiment. [Figure 10] 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a modified example of the sliding surface of the scanner unit. FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing how ink is being poured into the ink tank according to the first embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 2 is a schematic top view showing how ink is being poured into the ink tank according to the first embodiment, as viewed from above. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] [First embodiment] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the following embodiments do not limit the present invention, and not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the present invention. Furthermore, the relative arrangements, shapes, etc. of the components described in the embodiments are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to only those.

[0011] <Device configuration> Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the internal configuration of an inkjet recording apparatus (hereinafter referred to as recording apparatus) 50 according to this embodiment. The recording apparatus 50 is equipped with a recording head 4 that performs a recording operation of ejecting ink onto a recording medium to record an image. The recording apparatus 50 is equipped with a scanner unit 21 (see Figure 5) that serves as an openable and closable cover for a housing, and Figure 1 shows a state in which the scanner unit 21 has been removed.

[0012] The recording device 50 separates recording media loaded in a paper feed tray 51 provided on the rear side or a paper feed cassette 52 provided on the front side into individual sheets and feeds them using a feed roller (not shown) as a feeding means. The recording media fed by the feed roller are sandwiched between a transport roller 1 (as a transport means) and a pinch roller 2 driven by the transport roller 1, and are transported in the direction of arrow A toward a recording position facing a recording head 4. The transport roller 1 is a metal roller with fine irregularities formed on its surface so as to generate a large frictional force. The pinch roller 2 is elastically biased against the transport roller 1 by a pressing means such as a spring (not shown).

[0013] The recording device 50 is further provided with a platen 3 positioned opposite the recording head 4, and the back surface of the recording medium transported to the recording position is supported by the platen 3. The platen 3 maintains a predetermined (constant) distance between the nozzle face of the recording head 4, which is provided with nozzles for ejecting ink, and the surface of the recording medium facing it. At the recording position, the recording medium is recorded on based on data by the recording head 4. After recording by the recording head 4 is complete, the recording medium is sandwiched between a discharge roller (not shown) and a spur, which is a rotating body driven by the discharge roller, and is discharged toward the outside of the recording device 50. The discharge roller is a rubber roller with a large friction coefficient. The spur is elastically biased against the discharge roller by a pressing means such as a spring (not shown).

[0014] In this embodiment, the direction in which the recording medium is transported by the transport unit (direction A in FIG. 1) is referred to as the transport direction. Therefore, the upstream side of the transport direction corresponds to the rear side of the recording device 50, and the downstream side of the transport direction corresponds to the front side of the recording device 50.

[0015] The recording head 4 is mounted on a carriage 7 that moves back and forth in a main scanning direction that intersects with the transport direction. The carriage 7 moves back and forth by a driving means such as a motor while being guided by two guide rails 5 and 6 that extend in the main scanning direction and are arranged above and below. In this embodiment, the transport direction and the main scanning direction are perpendicular to each other.

[0016] The recording head 4 ejects ink droplets while moving in the main scanning direction together with the carriage 7, and records an image of a predetermined length (one band) on the recording medium (recording operation). After one band of image has been recorded, the recording medium is transported a predetermined distance by the transport roller 1 and pinch roller 2 (intermittent transport operation). By repeating this one-band recording operation and intermittent transport operation, an image is recorded on the entire recording medium based on the image data.

[0017] The print head of this embodiment is also provided with a means (for example, a heat generating resistor element) for generating thermal energy as the energy used for ink ejection, and uses a method in which the thermal energy causes a change in ink state (film boiling). This achieves higher density and finer image recording. Note that the present invention is not limited to such a method using thermal energy, and may also use a method using vibration energy in a configuration equipped with a piezoelectric element.

[0018] In this embodiment, an example of a serial head mounted on a carriage 7 that moves back and forth over the recording head 4 is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this and can also be applied to a line head in which multiple ejection ports are arranged in an area corresponding to the width of the recording medium.

[0019] An ink tank 8 is provided in the recording device 50 for each color of ink that can be ejected by the recording head 4. In this embodiment, the ink tanks 8 are fixed to the front side of the recording device 50. In this embodiment, the recording device 50 is provided with a black ink tank 8K that contains black ink, a cyan ink tank 8C that contains cyan ink, a magenta ink tank 8M that contains magenta ink, and a yellow ink tank 8Y that contains yellow ink. These four ink tanks are collectively referred to as the ink tanks 8. Note that cyan ink, magenta ink, and yellow ink are merely examples of color inks, and the present invention is not limited to these.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 1, the black ink tank 8K is disposed on the left side of the paper feed cassette 52 when viewed from the front of the recording device 50. On the other hand, the cyan ink tank 8C, magenta ink tank 8M, and yellow ink tank 8Y are disposed on the right side of the paper feed cassette 52 when viewed from the front of the recording device 50. In other words, the paper feed cassette 52 is disposed so as to be sandwiched between the black ink tank 8K and the color ink tanks. Each ink tank 8 and the recording head 4 are connected by a flexible supply tube 9 that forms a supply flow path for supplying ink to the recording head 4. This makes it possible to independently supply ink contained in each ink tank 8 to the nozzle array of the recording head 4 corresponding to each ink color.

[0021] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an outline of the ink tank 8. The ink tank 8 includes an ink storage chamber 12 that stores ink, an atmosphere-communicating passage 11 having an atmosphere-communicating port, and a buffer chamber 13 provided above the ink storage chamber 12. Ink is continuously supplied from the ink storage chamber 12 via the supply tube 9 in an amount equal to the amount of ink ejected from the recording head 4 during recording operations. In addition, an amount of air (atmosphere) equal to the amount of ink consumed from the ink storage chamber 12 is introduced into the ink storage chamber 12 from the atmosphere-communicating passage 11 via the buffer chamber 13. The buffer chamber 13 is provided so as to be located between the ink storage chamber 12 and the atmosphere-communicating passage 11. The ink tank 8 also has a transparent viewing surface 12a so that the user can check the amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 12 from the front of the recording device 50.

[0022] An inlet 14, which is an opening for injecting ink, is provided on the top surface of the ink tank 8, and the inlet 14 can be sealed (closed) by a tank cap 15. The tank cap 15 is made of a material having rubber elasticity. The user can inject ink from the ink bottle 23 (see FIG. 11 ), which serves as an ink supply container, into the inlet 14, by removing the tank cap 15 from the inlet 14.

[0023] 3 is a perspective view illustrating the vicinity of the filler port 14 of the ink tank 8. The tank cap 15 is attached to a cap lever 16 that can be operated by the user. The cap lever 16 is rotatably supported by a middle frame 17 that is fixed to the device body. During a recording operation by the recording head 4, the filler port 14 is closed by the tank cap 15, in a cap-closed state, as shown in FIG. 3(a).

[0024] When the user wants to inject ink, he or she can open the tank cap 15 by operating the cap lever 16, and the cap lever 16 transitions to the cap open state shown in Fig. 3(b) as it rotates. As the user continues to rotate the cap lever 16, the rotation of the cap lever 16 is interfered with by a holding portion 18 that protrudes upward from the middle frame 17. The interference of the holding portion 18 causes the cap lever 16 to elastically deform, causing it to climb up onto the holding portion 18 and transition to the cap lever held state (held position) shown in Fig. 3(c).

[0025] The structure of how the cap lever 16 is held by the holder 18 will be described with reference to Figure 4. Figure 4(a) is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the holder 18 in the cap lever holding state, as viewed from the front of the device.

[0026] The cap lever 16 has a lever pivot shaft 19 supported by the middle frame 17, and is capable of pivoting around the lever pivot shaft 19. The cap lever 16 has a hole of a predetermined length formed in the direction from the lever pivot shaft 19 toward the attachment portion of the tank cap 15. When transitioning from the cap open state to the cap lever held state, the contact rib 20 of the cap lever 16 comes into contact with the holding portion 18, causing an inner portion 200 surrounding the hole to elastically deform in the opening direction shown in FIG. 4. At this time, the contact rib 20, which is part of the inner portion 200, also elastically deforms, so that the contact rib 20 of the cap lever 16, which continues to pivot due to user operation, climbs over the holding portion 18, thereby entering the cap lever held state.

[0027] 4(b) is a top view showing the positional relationship between the cap lever 16 and the holding portion 18 in the cap lever held state. After the contact rib 20 of the cap lever 16 moves over the holding portion 18, the inner portion 200 of the cap lever 16 interferes with the holding portion 18. This creates a cap lever held state in which the cap lever 16 remains freestanding even if the user releases the cap lever 16. In addition, in this embodiment, when the cap lever transitions to the cap lever held state, the user can feel a clicking sensation through the cap lever 16, and an operation sound is also generated as the contact rib 20 moves over the holding portion 18.

[0028] The opening direction of the inner portion 200 of the cap lever 16 is opposite to the detachment direction when the cap lever 16 is removed from the middle frame 17. In other words, when the user rotates the cap lever 16, a force is applied to the cap lever 16 in the opening direction, but no force is applied in the opposite detachment direction, so that the cap lever 16 is prevented from coming off due to the rotation operation.

[0029] Although the cap lever 16 is held by the elastic deformation of the cap lever 16 so that the cap lever 16 rides up onto the holding portion 18, it is also possible to adopt a structure in which the cap lever 16 is held by friction, for example.

[0030] Figure 11 is a perspective view illustrating the ink filling operation into the color ink tanks on the right side as viewed from the front of the recording device 50. Figure 11 shows how ink is being filled from the ink bottle 23 into the magenta ink tank 8M.

[0031] The ink bottle 23 is composed of an ink storage section 24 that stores ink, and an ink outlet section 25 that is provided with an outlet for injecting ink into the inlet 14. The ink bottle 23 in this embodiment is cylindrical with curved sides. The cap lever 16 is positioned so that, when held by the holder 18, the cap lever is held and the ink bottle 23 into which ink is to be injected does not interfere with each other.

[0032] Figure 12 is a schematic top view showing the positional relationship between the cap lever 16 and the ink outlet portion 25 when viewed vertically (from above) during the ink injection operation shown in Figure 11. In each cap lever 16, a recess 16r that is recessed when viewed from above is provided on the outer surface of the holding portion that holds the tank cap 15. As shown in Figure 12, the recess 16r has a curved surface that fits along the side surface of the ink bottle 23 to prevent contact with the curved shape of the side surface of the ink bottle 23.

[0033] By providing the recess 16r in the cap lever 16, for example, it is possible to inject ink into the magenta ink tank 8M while the cap levers 16C and 16Y that are not injecting ink remain in the cap closed state. Note that the ink bottle 23 in this embodiment is configured to include the ink containing section 24 and the ink outlet section 25, but this is not limiting, and it is also possible for the ink containing section 24 and the ink outlet section 25 to be integrated.

[0034] Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the appearance of recording device 50. As shown in Fig. 5(a), recording device 50 has scanner unit 21 as a reading means capable of reading an image of a placed document. Scanner unit 21 can be opened and closed relative to the housing of recording device 50, and Fig. 5(a) shows the scanner unit 21 in a closed state (closed position).

[0035] When the scanner unit 21 is opened by a user, the transport roller 1, recording head 4, injection port 14, and cap lever 16 are exposed, and when the scanner unit 21 is closed, the transport roller 1, recording head 4, injection port 14, and cap lever 16 are covered. In other words, by opening the scanner unit 21, the user can access the transport path for the recording medium and perform operations such as clearing a jammed recording medium in the transport path.

[0036] The rotation axis that is the rotation center of the scanner unit 21 is provided upstream of the transport roller 1 in the direction of arrow A. In addition, when the scanner unit 21 is closed, the cap lever 16 is covered, so that the user cannot operate the cap lever 16.

[0037] 5(b) shows a front view of the recording device 50 and an enlarged view of a portion of the front of the device. When the scanner unit 21 is closed, a gap G is provided as an opening between the scanner unit 21 and the exterior cover 231 of the housing, and the user can see the cap lever 16 through the gap G even when the scanner unit 21 is closed. The cap lever 16 is colored to correspond to the ink colors contained in the ink tanks 8, and the user can check the position of the ink color they want to inject without opening the scanner unit 21.

[0038] When a user fills ink, they first open the scanner unit 21 and then open the tank cap 15 (cap lever 16) corresponding to the ink color that needs to be filled, resulting in the state shown in FIG. 5(c). The open position of the scanner unit 21 shown in FIG. 5(c) is the open position. When the scanner unit 21 is in the open position, the recording device 50 detects that the scanner unit 21 is open using a sensor (not shown), and therefore suspends or prohibits the execution of recording operations, etc. After the user has finished filling ink from the ink bottle 23 (see FIG. 10), they can close the tank cap 15 (cap lever 16) and then close the scanner unit 21, enabling the recording device 50 to be used (recording operations).

[0039] 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the state when a user closes the scanner unit 21 without closing the tank cap 15 (cap lever 16). The scanner unit 21 has a surface facing the cap lever 16, at least a portion of which is curved, and is provided with a sliding surface 22 that can come into contact with the cap lever 16. When a user closes the scanner unit 21 while the cap lever 16 is in the cap lever holding state, the curved portion of the sliding surface 22 comes into contact (abuts) with the cap lever 16 at contact point A during the transition of the scanner unit 21 to the closed position.

[0040] Here, we will explain the angle of the curved surface of the sliding surface 22. In the curved portion of the sliding surface 22, the angle formed by the normal to the contact point A with the cap lever 16 in the cap lever holding state and the direction of gravity Z is defined as α. Also, if the angle formed by the line connecting the contact point A to the lever rotation axis 19 and the direction of gravity Z is defined as angle β, the sliding surface 22 is formed so that the relationship of angle α > angle β holds.

[0041] That is, the angle of the curved surface is set so that the weight of the scanner unit 21 acts via contact point A that comes into contact with the cap lever 16, thereby applying a force in the direction of closing the cap lever 16. In other words, when the cap lever 16 comes into contact with the curved portion of the sliding surface 22, the cap lever 16 is urged by the tank cap 15 toward a position where it closes the filler port 14. As a result, even if the user forgets to close the tank cap 15, the cap lever holding state of the cap lever 16 is released in conjunction with the action of closing the scanner unit 21, and the cap lever 16 can transition to the cap closed state.

[0042] 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the user closing the scanner unit 21 from the state shown in FIG. 6. In this embodiment, the sliding surface 22 is configured so that the curved surface extends to the vicinity of the front side of the device. As a result, the cap lever 16 transitioning to the cap closed state is continuously guided by the sliding surface 22.

[0043] With the above configuration, even if the user forgets to close the tank cap 15, the action of closing the scanner unit 21 closes the fill port 14 with the tank cap 15. Therefore, the risk of evaporation of ink contained in the ink tank 8 or ink leakage due to forgetting to close the tank cap 15 can be reduced.

[0044] Figure 8 is an external perspective view showing a state in which the black cap lever 16K has fallen down due to its own weight, but the filler port 14 of the black ink tank 8K is not closed by the tank cap 15. In Figure 8, the scanner unit 21 is in the open position. In the state shown in Figure 8, the black cap lever 16K is not held by the holder 18 and is simply fallen down due to gravity, and the filler port 14 is not closed by the tank cap 15.

[0045] FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a user closes the scanner unit 21 from the state shown in FIG. 8 . In this embodiment, the sliding surface 22 has a horizontal portion 22S closer to the front of the device than the curved portion. The cap lever 16K for black ink, which has fallen due to gravity, abuts against the horizontal portion 22S, and is able to close the filler port 14 as the scanner unit 21 is closed. That is, the cap lever 16 receives a force from the abutting horizontal portion 22S due to the weight of the scanner unit 21, pushing the tank cap 15 downward (in the direction to close the filler port 14) from the abutting horizontal portion 22S. Therefore, even if the scanner unit 21 is closed without the tank cap 15 closing the filler port 14, the sliding surface 22 (horizontal portion 22S) and the cap lever 16 abut against each other as the scanner unit 21 is closed, and the filler port 14 can be closed.

[0046] The sliding surface 22 is provided at a position facing the black cap lever 16K and at a position facing the color cap lever 16. The sliding surface 22 facing the color cap lever 16 is provided over an area that can face all three cap levers 16. By providing a common sliding surface 22 for multiple cap levers 16 in this way, the configuration of the recording device 50 can be further simplified. Furthermore, even if the number of ink tanks 8 contained therein (i.e., the number of opposing cap levers 16) is increased or decreased, this can be accommodated by changing the length of the sliding surface 22 in the main scanning direction.

[0047] Other Embodiments Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a modified example of the sliding surface 22. In the first embodiment, the sliding surface 22 is described as having a curved surface extending to the vicinity of the front side of the device, but in Fig. 10, the front side of the device is a horizontal portion 22S. In this way, even if at least the area of ​​the sliding surface 22 that faces the cap lever 16 in the cap lever holding state is configured to have a curved surface, the same effect of preventing the tank cap 15 from being left closed can be obtained.

[0048] Although the scanner unit 21 has been described as an example of a cover that can be opened and closed relative to the housing of the recording device 50, it is also possible to use a cover that does not have a reading means. In that case, this can be achieved by appropriately adjusting the weight of the cover and the distance from the pivot axis of the cover to the sliding surface 22 so that the tank cap 15 can close the filler port 14 using the cover's own weight. [Explanation of symbols]

[0049] 1. Conveying roller (conveying means) 4 recording head 8 Ink Tanks 12 Ink chamber 14 Inlet 15 Tank cap 16 Cap lever 21 Scanner unit (cover) 22 sliding surface 50 Inkjet recording device (recording device)

Claims

[Claim 1] a recording head that ejects ink; a conveying means for conveying a recording medium in a first direction toward the recording head; an ink tank having an ink chamber for containing ink to be supplied to the recording head and an inlet for injecting ink into the ink chamber, the ink tank being disposed downstream of the conveying means in the first direction; a tank cap for closing the filler port; a lever that holds the tank cap and is rotatable; a cover that is rotatable about a rotation axis that is disposed upstream of the conveying means in the first direction to an open position that exposes the lever and a closed position that covers the lever, a surface of the cover facing the lever having a sliding surface with a curved portion that can come into contact with the lever as the cover rotates toward the closed position;

Images